17th & 18th October 2001
Contractual Practices ...
Current contractual practice preserves the traditional methods for achieving legal admissibility in business
–Documents submitted solely on paper
–ICT only intended to speed up the transmission process
–legislation not adopted by industry
–hence, the use of ICTs is not legally valid in current conditions
The eLEGAL project undertook a survey of contracts used in the construction industry in the project participant’s countries

Overall, the State-of-the-art Assessment findings suggest that although the Internet is rapidly transforming the way we communicate, educate, and buy and sell goods and services, current contractual practice seems to preserve the traditional methods for achieving legal admissibility in business.

Official documents  = correspondence, drawings, specifications and raw data

•official documents are formally submitted solely on paper.
•The use of ICT seems to be only intended to speed up the transmission process, but effectively has no legal validity.
•However, the legislation to support technology may exist, but may not have been adopted by the construction industry within its contractual practices.
•Hence, the use of ICTs is not legally valid in current conditions